Chris Chijiutomi

Managing Director & Head of Africa at British International Investment (BII)

Panellist

Chris Chijiutomi is the Managing Director, Head of Africa at British International Investment (“BII”), the UK development finance institution, he is responsible for its portfolio and investments in Africa.

A chartered chemical engineer with over 20 years’ experience, across Europe, South Asia and Africa, prior to joining, Chris was a founding member of the ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund where he was involved in a number of pioneer infrastructure transactions in West Africa including the 450MW Azura Edo Power Project in Nigeria, the 200MW Amandi Power Project in Ghana and a number of other projects in the region. He has held senior positions at Veolia Environment as well as RWE Thames Water in Europe.

Chris is a seasoned investor and practitioner, with expertise in Energy, Water & Sanitation as well as climate resilient transport infrastructure, he has been involved in over $4bn of transactions in this space and is very much passionate about the Africa development agenda.

At BII, he has been responsible for several landmark investments including Globeleq (BII’s largest investment in Africa power), Gridworks ( a development company created from scratch and now leading the way in transmission and distribution across Africa), DPW Ports partnership ( a $1.7bn commitment by both partners), including being a board member on these and other companies in BII’s portfolio.

In 2020, Chris was appointed as a member of the UN Technical Working Group on Finance & Investment in Energy, he is a frequent global speaker on Energy & Water subjects, as well as Investments in Africa.

Chris also leads BII’s Umoja Network, a BAME initiative in the organisation.

He holds a Masters in Engineering from the University of Surrey in UK.